Chapter Two: The Counter Battle
“–Jirei, please watch me! I’ll do my best!”
Rafine waved energetically at me from the arena-like field.
“Oh, Gambareru, oisshiteruzo!”
Sitting in the hastily constructed bleachers, I waved exaggeratedly in return, cheering her on in a monotone voice.
“…Didn’t plan on this though.”
Seeing Rafine cheerfully warming up, I heaved a heavy sigh.
“Jirei, don’t worry so much. I set up a battle arena so they can’t die. The ladies will be fine.”
“It’s not like I’m worried or anything.”
Aldi laughed heartily beside me, looking at me as if to say, “Jirei is so overprotective~” It wasn’t like that.
“First of all, I’m only going to the Magic Library by myself. We didn’t need to do this.”
“Ah, well, about that… Um, let’s see…”
Aldi hemmed and hawed awkwardly.
“Anyway, you’ll find out later anyway. More importantly, it’s definitely going to be okay. Miss Eve and the Princess have a chance, too. Most of all, you should acknowledge their spirit, ‘kay?”
“Well, I guess so…”
I looked at Rafine, energetic and excited. Her determination was certainly impressive. Few had the determination to stand up to the powerful for their unbending principles. Even I understood that.
However.
“… “
Silently, I scratched my head vigorously.
I understood… but for some reason, I couldn’t calm down.
The image of Rafine and the others fighting made my head fuzzy and restless.
Or rather, despite what Aldi said, I wasn’t worried.
Except for Eve, Rafine’s spirit magic could disable most opponents without touching them. Obviously.
Besides, it wasn’t as if Rafine was a weak girl. If she had been, I would have sent her back to her country a long time ago. A wandering princess was far too dangerous.
So I wasn’t worried or anything.
Although I fidgeted restlessly the whole time, it wasn’t because I was worried.
Sure, death in the Battle Arena didn’t really kill you. But it wasn’t that you didn’t die, it was just that you resurrected after dying once. Actually, it was an effect that [rewound time and returned your body to its pre-battle state], so rewinding was more accurate, but…
Still, only the body went back. The memories stayed clear. So unless you died instantly, it was still painful, and some people were so traumatized by their deaths that they were unable to fight again.
By the way, the Battle Arena could only be invoked with the mutual consent of both parties. Strict rules had to be established and agreed upon by both sides beforehand. This had to do with the magical theory that allowing powerful magic required such restrictions, and the Battle Arena itself had its origins in the long-ago duel between famous magical engineers, but… that’s irrelevant.
“–Mr. Aldi. Can I confirm the rules again? It is [the one who voluntarily surrenders or becomes incapacitated loses], [any magic, weapons, curses…anything is allowed]…Correct?”
“No problem. Same rules as the Magic Tournament.”
“I see…so that means things like [forcing them to say surrender with manipulation magic] are forbidden, yes?”
Rafine nodded firmly with a serious expression.
“Understood. I’m prepared, so I’ll be fine.”
“Got it. Are you ready as well, Wisdom?”
“I’m ready too.”
Hearing both sides confirm their readiness, Aldi
“Yosh! Let’s go then!”
He activated the large orb-shaped magical tool he was holding – the Arena – and threw it into the air.
“Showdown between the [Attack] and [Genius] hero groups, begin!”
As he shouted this, the activated arena spread its magical power, surrounding the targets in a circle and blurring their figures.
Aldi took out another magical device and placed it on the ground. Like a projector, it emitted light into the air and projected an image of the inside of the arena – a dense, overgrown forest.
“A forest, huh?”
Seeing the projected image, I grunted as if I was chewing on bitterness.
Battle Arena
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A kind of pocket dimension, a magical tool that transfers the target into a separate space.
It can create various terrains such as forests, volcanoes, and snowy mountains. And the generated terrain has physical substance, not just images.
It was set to randomly select the terrain this time, but…
“This is bad.
No doubt, it was extremely disadvantageous for Rafine.
Her opponent was already a wolf demihuman with higher basic physical abilities. On top of that, having to fight in a terrain with many obstructing trees made it difficult even for A-class adventurers. Not to mention the fact that their opponent had a much stronger physique than the average demihuman.
It’d only be a match if there were two, not three, A-ranks. Sure, Rafine’s spirit magic was powerful, and under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have any trouble winning, but…
[Stop]
As soon as the match began, Rafine quickly took action and cast her spirit magic on Wisdom, who had moved quickly.
“! Manipulation magic… no, this is… spirit magic ?”
The target was restrained. But Wisdom calmly analyzed without panicking.
“You can do nothing with that. Surrender.”
Calmly commanding surrender without using spirit magic . However…
“…I cannot do that.”
Rafine’s unexpected words caused Wisdom’s expression to tighten slightly.
“It is my victory. Surrender quietly and…”
“We Knights of Edelf have no concept of surrender.”
“B-But…”
Rafine was at a loss, for Wisdom had not lost her fighting spirit despite her restraint.
…That hit the nail on the head.
Surely, Rafine’s spirit magic was powerful. For those with low magic power and magic resistance, they would be helpless without any recourse.
But… it was meaningless if the user himself could not command death.
Somehow Aldi, who had been silently watching the battle next to me, spoke while crossing his arms.
“Well, it’s a tough situation. It doesn’t matter if it’s just the battle arena, being able to kill someone requires determination. And for the kind-hearted princess who loves her people… even more so.”
When I saw Rafine frozen in front of Wisdom, I made a face.
The rules of the game were [The one who surrenders voluntarily or becomes incapacitated loses]. Forcing a surrender with Rafine’s spirit magic wouldn’t be considered a victory.
Rafine probably thought that: [If I incapacitate them, they’ll give up and surrender].
So far, she must have lived without ever taking a life. So it couldn’t be helped that she thought that way.
But in this situation, it was a mistake.
“Fifty-five, fifty-six – five minutes have passed.”
After counting something, Wisdom, who had kept his head down, lifted his face.
“Black-haired woman, I have a request. Won’t you surrender?”
He spoke to Rafine as if unaware of his own circumstances. However…
“…I cannot do that. I want you to be the one to do it.”
“I see. Then it cannot be helped.”
At Rafine’s answer, Wisdom distorted his fierce face with regret and clenched his claws. He probably wanted to finish her with one blow.
“I am strong. So I cannot lose.”
Rafine stood up shakily and faced Wisdom’s hulking frame, many times her own size.
Without answering, Wisdom simply sharpened both sets of claws. Probably to end it in one blow.
“I am strong. Much stronger than you, with more power and speed… I am strong, strong…”
Murmuring with her head bowed, Rafine repeated it like a chant.
“—it’s over.”
Wisdom kicked off the ground. A few seconds later, his huge body was standing, blocking Rafine’s view.
The large, sharp claws were raised high.
One thrust through the heart for instant, painless death.
Then the battle arena would end and the match would be over–
“……Huh?”
-except that didn’t happen.
Wisdom’s face contorted in great astonishment.
It wasn’t the sight of a pierced corpse before his eyes, but Rafine standing there, alive and well.
I heard the heavy thud of Aldi getting up quickly and knocking over the chair next to me. I couldn’t see his face, but he certainly had an excited, childlike expression on his face.
“You’re kidding…right?”
I also stared in utter shock. It was unbelievable. Rafine was only fifteen. There was no way she could have reached this level, even with rigorous training since childhood.
Spirit Magic allowed the target to be controlled.
Since its effects were similar to Manipulation Magic, the two were often treated as the same, but they were actually completely different.
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